In Death
by zomgkateh
Summary: Lydia has a brush with death, and Sabretooth sort of freaks.


Well, the forecast for today was clear skies, a slight breeze, and a high of seventy-six degrees Fahrenheit. Oh, and don't forget the smoke. Yes, can't forget the smoke.

The lower east side was in flames, the buildings destroyed from the onslaught of attack. Whatever possessed those two women to go completely apeshit on the city, it had certainly sparked some kind of horrible rage in their hearts. Maybe this was part of some master plan, and this was only the beginning. Maybe, in a matter of hours, the Upper East Side would go down, and then the west side, then the rest of Manhattan and by this time tomorrow the entire city would be completely demolished. They were on such a rampage, taking no care in their destruction, none at all. They did not care if their buildings fell into the street, onto people, into other buildings. That was their aim, to obliterate everything until its existence was merely a memory. The two women were cold-blooded, sociopathic even.

It was Lady Deathstrike and Chimera. Both members of the Sisterhood, a long broken off branch of the Brotherhood and they were just as vicious. The lady with adamantium claws at her fingers, and the other a telekinetic with a certain taste for dragons. Both were lethal in their own right, and they were proving right now that they didn't need their powers in order to cause a ruckus. They used their smarts, especially in explosives, to detonate all those buildings and throw grenades around like it was the goddamned forth of July out there. Things were moving like clockwork, even the times that the news vans pulled up and the cop cars made their attempts to block the two ladies from doing what they wanted. Of course the police could do nothing, as their explosives easily overpowered their guns and their cars, even themselves as they were busted into pieces.

Underground, things were at a stand-still though everyone standing around waiting for the train that just wasn't coming. They could hear things up above but considering the city was always so busy, nobody really thought anything of it. They just thought that there were a bunch of eighteen wheelers driving by making their deliveries and the like. However, when the trains stopped coming and the schedules all turned red telling everyone that the trains were running late. However, when an hour passed with no train at all the waiting passengers started to get annoyed. Everyone was getting loud, complaining to the person next to them about how the system was going down the tubes and other shit like that. You'd think that the transit personnel would come down and warn the people that uh, hey the city's sorta getting beat up on the mainland, so the subway's sorta dead and stuff. But no, they just hid wherever they could find a spot and left everyone else in the dark.

"This is fucking ridiculous," she said, the dark-haired mutant complained, leaning over the platform to look down the dark subway tunnel. "We've been standing here for over an hour…what's the damn deal?" An annoyed Miss Lydia huffed a sigh as she put her sunglasses back down over her eyes while she moved back to Victor's side. "Maybe they stopped all the trains 'cause we're tryin' t'get on, heh," he joked, rolling her eyes at her while he flashed a feline grin at her in his bit of sarcasm. "We are known to be troublemakers that is," he then added, following her little gesture and even managing to look down the tunnel as well. He then growled at the lack of train movement then, pushing his way back to Lydia and he pushed against her shoulder while he leaned over to whisper in her ear. "Let's just scrap the subway, maybe th'buses will be workin'." Lydia wasn't too keen on the idea of the bus considering it took like, three or four to get home, but in the end she reluctantly obliged and they turned around and headed up to the surface.

What they found when they got up where however, even dropped the jaw of the mighty Sabretooth. Lydia was the more surprised one, eyes wide and her skin flashing a pale shade of white before she regained herself. "Uh…uhm…so maybe this is why the trains aren't coming?" she suggested, turning towards Victor before they quickly ran to the left into the alley in order to dodge some falling debris. It was like they were in the epicenter of some ridiculous earthquake, caused by two shrews that looked to see everything fall. The pair even wondered if some freaking asteroid decided to hit the city today to cause this destruction, but it wasn't until Victor's keen eyesight caught a glimpse of Deathstrike in the corner of his vision before she disappeared. Moments later, he saw Chimera through the smoke. "Looks like we've got two ladies who forgot to take their PMS pills," he commented, and of course Lydia just had to hit him before she peeked around the corner of the still-standing building.

"So what the fuck are we going to do? Certainly can't get out of here by bus," she said, ducking behind the wall again as she looked to him for some kind of guidance. Though really, how the Hell were they going to get out of this? They weren't planning on a day for destruction, so joining up with the two female mutants was out of the question. They certainly weren't looking to try and stop the women considering this was out of their league. If they had more people with them however, they might've changed their minds and taking down the two women would've been more feasible. So, the only thing that was left was to try and maneuver their way through the destruction to get the hell out of Dodge, as quickly and efficiently as possible. But she wasn't going to suggest that, because knowing her luck if she suggested it then she'd be the one getting herself killed for it. Karma was a bitch like that. So, hopefully Victor saw that opportunity and jumped in on it, and well hot damn, he did! But in a very sloppy manner, which was just asking for trouble.

"Okay so look, we split up. Find a safe way out, and we'll meet at your apartment. Deal? Whoever gets there first calls the other, and if for some damn reason one of us gets hurt from these two maniacs' stupidity, we call. So no matter what, we call. Got it, cold snap?" He relayed the instructions in a stern manner, staring her down as if to drill it into her skull. He wasn't fond of the idea of splitting up, but he had to admit that if Yuriko saw the both of them at once, in the same place of all things, then shit would really hit the fan and they'd be in deeper trouble than the two of them could handle by themselves. So, he reluctantly gave in to his own plan and would rely on Lydia's own smarts to pray that she didn't get into any trouble, while he himself worked on getting out of the area as quick as he could. He could then find her and pick her up after getting through the danger zone. He just had to hope that she didn't walk into any kind of shit, because the last thing he needed was to go running her to a healer. He didn't mind saving his frail, but it was the fact that one day he wasn't going to be able to save her and she was going to pay for it. But with any luck, today wouldn't be one of those days.

She gulped a bit of air down her throat as now the adrenaline started to flow through her veins. He could probably smell the rush coming from her, and he knew then that it was make or break. "Got it," was all she said, and the two closed the space in between them for a last kiss that seemed to last for ages before she finally broke it and she was the first to run, dashing across the street, over the rubble and right into the fray. Victor followed behind after he counted ten seconds, preferring to scale the building and work his way around in that manner. He figured it'd be faster, as long as the two ladies didn't blow up anything he was on at that time. He of course would look in the direction that Lydia went until he couldn't see her anymore, of which it snapped him into that instinct to move out and get out.

So far, so good. She'd managed to head past Chimera without being detected, watching as the telekinetic destroyed a high-rise apartment building in her wake. Lydia barely made it out safely, feeling the rush of the dust cloud that followed behind her hit her back and get in her hair. But she couldn't stop, the agile girl running as fast as she could to just get the Hell out of there. Over fences, over cars, worming her way over every obstacle she felt a certain gratitude for her parkour training that was now coming in handy. It was saving her life, and she felt as if in no time she'd be home in her apartment, over in Brooklyn and watching the news instead of being in the crossfire. Victor was doing well too, obviously farther than Lydia but not by too much. He had to maneuver around some rubble that set him back a short amount of time. However, in this setback Yuriko spotted him though she did not think to stop her fun just to go say hello to the feral. Though, she knew that wherever that cat was, his little thermometer girl was somewhere nearby. It was then that something devious was forming in her mind and she began to alter her plans. She set off her bombs and threw off some of her grenades before she disappeared into the smoke, leaving Chimera to do all the damage she wanted.

Lady Deathstrike combed the alleys for that curly-haired runt, running her nails along the walls as the public continued to scramble in their fear. She was taking her time, stalking around as she saw quick glimpses of Lydia running as fast as she could. "Found ya," she cooed, softly to herself as she quickened her pace now to head Lydia off at the pass. She managed to get ahead of her and she showed up at the end of the alley, causing Lydia to skid to a halt. She then regained herself then, dusting off her shirt a little bit but not without keeping a close eye on Yuriko. "Well, taking a break from your little fun hour?" she said in a snide manner, those blue eyes of hers making contact with Yuriko's darker ones. "Y'know, you should like, warn us next time you decide to throw around some grenades and have some girl time with Chimera. I was waiting in the subway for an hour just to come up to this crap."

"You were waiting in the subway? As in, you yourself and alone were down there? I saw your little feral man climbing through the buildings I'd been intending to trash, so I don't have a doubt that it was the both of your down there…what, out for an afternoon stroll? Gonna go out to the gardens and pick some flowers?" she began, taunting Lydia as that malign grin formed across her face as she took a single step forward towards the thermokinetic. "Sorry I didn't warn you, next time I'll call and leave a message!" she then exclaimed, grabbing a trash can and throwing it at Lydia with the intention to hit her. And sure as day, she was hit square in the chest and was sent backwards skidding across the pavement. She yelped in her pain, feeling the skin on her back scraping open as well as her chest was panging from the impact of the trash can. She pushed it off of her chest as quickly as possible to get herself up, managing to get back onto her feet and take ahold of Lady Deathstrike's wrists before those nails could get into her body.

"The fuck is your deal, psycho bitch?" Lydia exclaimed, using all her might to hold her back and she even pushed Yuriko enough to put a few feet between them. It didn't last long however, as Yuriko went forward again, pushing all her weight into the thermokinetic and the both of them hit the ground. Lydia used all the strength she could find to get at Yuriko's neck to try and subdue her, and again she managed to get her off long enough for Lydia to struggle free and start trying to make a break for it. She didn't know what in God's name possessed Yuriko to actually stop what she was doing just to try and fucking assassinate insignificant little Lydia. Wasn't destroying buildings and massive amounts of people all at once satisfying enough for her? She didn't think that there was any kind of bad blood in between herself and Deathstrike, so right now she only thing she could think up was that Yuriko was on some kind of crazy pills. Seriously.

And then, a sudden rush of ear-splitting pain rushed through her.

While her back was turned, Yuriko used that chance to slice across Lydia's back, opening deep wounds in her skin that immediately started to ooze crimson blood. Such an attack was cowardice, but she knew Yuriko didn't care. All she knew now was that she was screaming in pain, and she turned to try and protect her wounds as a reflex but that was a horribly bad reflex. As soon as she was facing Yuriko again, the front of her was sliced again, those adamantium nails cutting through her flesh and bone like butter. The blood came quickly after, and another scream followed. Yuriko quickly shut her up then, thrusting her nails forward right into Lydia's stomach which cut Lydia's scream short and now caused her to gasp for air. Yuriko then pulled her nails out of Lydia's body and watched as the thermokinetic fell to the ground, her shirt stained in red as the blood flowed and now started to pool on the ground where she lay. Yuriko just laughed at her, kicking her to make the girl lay on her side. "Bye now honey, thanks for the laugh."

And then she was gone, leaving Lydia on the ground, bleeding out without a chance.

Well, almost without a chance. It just so happened that Victor had heard the scream and it was so distinct, he didn't know why. He wasn't one to know Lydia's scream from anyone else's considering he usually didn't like, hear her scream or anything, but something just…made him stop and listen, and eventually go to investigate. He back-tracked his steps, heading back towards the destruction as he pinpointed the source of the agonizing scream. At first, the metallic stench of blood filled his senses, clouding his consciously for a moment and at first he wondered if that scream just came from some random unlucky victim of the Sisterhood's wrath. It wasn't until he was much closer that the scent of blood finally was mixed in with something more familiar, of which he grew exceedingly uneasy and hastened his tracking until he froze where he stood and his entire body probably stopped functioning for a moment. The exact thing that he feared had happened somehow, and now he was staring it in the face.

"Lydia…Lydia!" he yelled, running to her side as he dropped to his knees, moving her so that she was on her back instead of on her side. At a loss for words, his eyes looked over the deep wounds and all the blood, concluding that this was Yuriko's work. Just the thought made him growl with anger but when Lydia stirred, his focus went to her and he leaned over her in some kind of instinctive, protective manner. "Lydia…can you hear me? C'mon just tell me you can hear me…" he beckoned, and her eyes weakly fluttered open while she focused more on breathing than talking. But when she did, she sounded delirious. The blood loss was getting to her. "Oh hi there k-kittycat…" she mused, eyes closing again as her mouth gaped open to help her get air. That's all she wanted right now…air…she'd do anything just to breathe. He could see how labored she was and watched as with each breath her wounds bubbled over with more blood. He wasn't sure how much she lost, but it had to have been a lot if she was talking like that. Starting to work into a panic, he looked through her phone and called one of her healer friends, bribing him with all the money he had on him to get him to get over there as soon as he could. He then threw the phone aside, returning to her as he watched her struggle.

"K-kitty…you don't look so g-good…" she stuttered, eyes narrowed as she looked at him. He just shook his head and laughed in a shaky voice, rolling her eyes at him. "Well kid, hate to break it to ya but you're the one that don't look so good right now…but you're gonna be okay, got it? Someone's coming to help you, he'll make you feel better…you just gotta stay with me, okay kid? We clear?" he then replied, looking her straight in the eye though at the end of his sentence her eyes closed and he gently tapped her cheek. "Hey! Stay with me, I told you to stay with me now you keep your eyes open," he commanded, of which she stirred again and she felt like she was crying a little. "I…I can't see nothin'…Victor…" she said in her daze, blinded now and her skin was getting pale as anything.

Her healer buddy took about five minutes to get there, of which he ran like the wind when he got off his bike and ran down the alley to Lydia and Victor. "Jesus…what the fuck happened to-" "Shut up and just do your job, we'll explain later!" he growled and immediately the guy got to his knees. "Hey Lyd…" he said soothingly to her, and she fluttered her eyes opened at him again and made a weak grin, saying, "Oh hi there dude…what's u…" and she trailed off, eyes closing as now she out. He quickly put his hands on her arms to start the healing process, but just as his hands grabbed her she had stopped breathing. This caused a state of alarm in her friend, the younger healer panicking as he didn't know if the fearsome Sabretooth was going to lash out against him or anything. He just kept his hands on her while Victor panicked as well, checking for a pulse and he concentrated as hard as he could, yet he felt nothing. Not at her neck, not at her wrist, nothing. Lifeless.

What happened next was something to be marveled at. The feral started to growl and that growl turned into a roar and then he started to shake her, yelling at her to wake the fuck up or else. "You better work harder you little shit, you bring her back right now!"

"Dude I'm trying, I'm trying as hard as I can!"

"Well try harder! I swear to God if you don't bring her back you'll be bleeding next!"

The two continued to argue there, in the alleyway, while Lydia drifted out of her body and started to flutter away into the air. She felt like she'd been sucked through a vacuum and then thrown into a place that looked like Central Park, only everything was much more vivid. The colors were brilliant, and the city was back in order. No exploded buildings, no fires, no anything. Not even people were around. She was alone, in the park where she took a seat on the bench and gazed up at the sky. She didn't know if she was alive or dead, but she sure liked where she was. The birds started to chirp and life began to stir in the bushes, seeing a few squirrels pop out and run across to the large oak tree that was now swaying in the breeze.

"Lydia, what are you doing here sweetie?"

What? Who was that? "Who's there?" she exclaimed, looking around for the source of the voice. "What, you don't remember me?" the voice then replied, and when she turned around again that's when she saw him. He hadn't aged a day. "Daddy?"

"Yeah sweetie it's me…" he said, and that's when she knew it was him. Her father, not a day over 35 was standing in front of her with that same smile on his face that he always had when they were growing up. She was at a loss for words, her jaw dropped while she took him in for what seemed to be an eternity. She then began to cry, not only because she was seeing him but because she knew that only way she could be seeing him this clearly was that she was dead. Kaput, through the ringer, crossed the fence, all that jazz. "Why are you crying, Lydia?" Her father asked, moving to sit next to her on the bench as he held his child. She rested her head on his shoulder and was how shocked at how real it felt, which only made her cry even more. "I'm dead…aren't I daddy?" she sobbed, wiping the tears as they came but they just kept coming.

"Yes, you're dead. But not for long. They told me it wasn't time yet for you," he replied, patting her head softly to try and sooth her crying. "You've got awhile, kid. Just don't get into that kind of trouble again, okay?" he then asked of her, looking into her eyes as she started to calm down. "Who's 'they'? How do they know?" she asked, and all her father could do was smile. "Well I can't tell you that, it's a secret. But when you're here to stay, you'll know. I promise," he said and then he leaned forward to kiss her forehead in that paternal kind of way. "Now you've got him worried sick about you…I think it's about time you went back now don't you think?" She would nod softly to him and he smiled at her before he reached over and hugged her tight. "I love ya kid…I'll see you around," he whispered and it was then that she felt herself being pulled back through that vacuum and her spirit was fluttering back down onto solid ground once more, lacing itself back into her own body.

In the meantime, Victor and her friend had slowly given up on her, releasing his hold on her as the young healer hung his head in shame and shook it, holding back his tears. Victor restrained, the feral refusing to let his animal be taken over by human emotion. Yet, he shuddered at the realization, holding back everything he could as he bit his lip with his sharp canines and even if he punctured his own skin he just healed right up. The two had admitted defeat for the time being, ready to call her death until she stirred awake. She came back to Earth gasping for breath like she was a fish out of water, hyperventilating as she felt her lungs getting used to breathing again. Her wounds were healed, blood was gone, everything. She was good as new, as if when she came back to Earth she was given a clean slate. But still, she was gasping for air. Victor and her friend both looked at her in sheer astonishment, both coming back to her side in desperation.

"Lydia, Lydia! What the Hell..what the Hell…" Victor kept repeating, shaking his head as he scooped her up into his arms gingerly and he squeezed her so tight she could've gotten suffocated. She of course let him do whatever, catching her breath as she then clutched his coat and started to weep then, totally dumbfounded and spooked at her out-of-body experience. How could she explain where she had been, who she saw, what they talked about? It was perplexing enough that she was dead for that long and had come back without damaged, she couldn't stump them with her rambling. But she knew she could say one thing, and that was a weak, but happy, "I talked to him."


End file.
